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When Ragen Chastain sets a goal, she wants it to be nearly unattainable. Which is how she went from hating running to signing up for a marathon. “I decided I wanted to try a challenge and jump out of my comfort zone, and distance running had always been the thing that I was worse at in the entire world,” Chastain, 41, a speaker and writer, tells PEOPLE. “So I signed up for a marathon first thing.”

A 40-year-old mother in San Jose, Calif., died two days after catching the flu, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing local media. Katie Denise Oxley Thomas, who was considered healthy and liked to run marathons, died on Jan. 4, the report said. She is the 42nd Californian under the age of 65 to die from the flu, the paper reported. “I can tell you that she seemed absolutely fine on New Year’s Eve and called a friend Tuesday morning saying that she had a sore throat, and by Wednesday she was in the ICU,” her sister told the Mercury News....

Thursday, just two days after a terror suspect killed eight people by driving a truck down a large swath of the bike path in lower Manhattan, city and state Department of Transportation crews began installing concrete and Jersey barriers at 57 spots along the route between 59th Street and the World Trade Center, according to the mayor’s office. The barriers are meant to protect pedestrians and cyclists on the greenway from vehicular traffic on the West Side Highway. “Vehicles won’t be able to access places they aren’t supposed to,” said Ben Sarle, a spokesman for the mayor’s office. “They’re extremely...

When Rob Jones was tasked with searching for an IED on deployment in Taliban territory in Afghanistan, a land mine exploded and took away both of his legs. His right leg was amputated above the knee. His left, at the knee. The Marine was honorably discharged in December 2011. Less than six years later, on Monday, he’ll run his 12th marathon — along KC’s Riverfront Heritage Trail — in as many days. He plans to run in 31 marathons in the course of a single month — a marathon a day for 31 straight days, all to raise awareness and...

Current record is 2:02:57 https://www.facebook.com/nike/

Iran held its first ever international marathon this week. But the women were not allowed to participate. They were forced to run in a stadium in hjabs. And liberals cheer this. https://twitter.com/BluehandNews/status/850858605167423488

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — An internationally known runner who completed 744 marathons has died. Don McNelly was 96. McNelly ran his first marathon in Boston in 1969. He was 86 in 2006 when he completed his 700th marathon, eventually reaching his goal with marathon No. 744, the same number of his Navy destroyer in the Pacific during World War II.

Melissa Kitcher ended up six to seven miles off course — with no phoneMelissa Kitcher had full intentions of completing her first half-marathon Sunday, but it's safe to say she pictured it ending a little bit differently. Kitcher went missing for nearly 12 hours after running off the trail during the Trail Hog Half-Marathon at the Carlton Reserve near Venice in Sarasota County, Florida. "I kept thinking to myself, 'Wow, how do people run these trails? I can't even walk them,'" she said. "When I hit the power lines I said, 'Yes I'm definitely way off course. I'm lost.'" But...

Mario Guzman lived to race. For the last two decades Guzman ran in marathons, half marathons, and competed in multiple ironman triathlons. “It was a passion. It wasn’t a hobby, it was a passion,” Guzman said. That all changed more than three years ago when Guzman went to the doctor after injuring his ankle during a run. “We were very puzzled about his symptoms,” said Ludmila Parada, Mario’s wife. “My husband has a fever, he feels very ill and the foot that was completely unremarkable the day before was all swollen and red and he couldn’t put weight on it.”...

North Korean Marathon Runners Accused Of Cheating During Race To Qualify For Olympics May 11, 2016 8:35 PM PYONGYANG, North Korea (CBSNewYork) — Two North Korean marathon runners are accused of cheating during a race to qualify for the Olympics. South African athletes manager Dewald Steyn told Race Results Weekly that Ra Hyon-ho and Ri Kwang-bom cut the course during the Mangyongdae Prize Pyongyang Marathon North Korea to hit the Olympic qualifying time of 2:19:00 set by the International Association of Athletics Federations. Ra finished fourth at 2:15:45, while Ri came in fifth at 2:16:25 during the April 10 marathon....

This is the shocking moment a group of people including parents with children were seen stealing bottles of water from London marathon runners. The mob were pictured descending on tables laid out with liquid in Deptford, south-east London. Eyewitnesses say a group of opportunistic thieves started stealing the bottles minutes after the front runners had passed through.

Two women ran in Iran’s first official marathon on Saturday – despite being banned by the authorities. The race, called ‘I Run Iran’, took in ancient landmarks such as the Gate of All Nations at Persepolis and attracted around 250 runners from 35 different countries, including 12 UK competitors. Hosting the country’s first big race like this open to foreigners was a really exciting project – but organisers came in for some criticism as only men were allowed to race. (read more at link) *** Iran held its first marathon today. Unfortunately, 10 Americans who had planned to race weren't...

Dog accidentally runs US half-marathon, finishes in an impressive seventh place by AllTheGoodNamesAreTaken2 · 2 days ago Early Saturday morning, Ludivine, a two-and-a-half-year-old hound dog, was let out of the house in Elkmont, Alabama, to do her business. Prone to roaming around town at will, Ludivine snuck out of the backyard and made her way to the starting area of the inaugural Trackless Train Trek Half Marathon about a quarter mile away. Ludivine proceeded to mingle with the runners, run the entire 13.1-mile course, cross the finish line in an unofficial 1:32:56, and have a medal draped over her...

A local chapter of activist group Black Lives Matter is planning on stopping Twin Cities Marathon runners from crossing the finish line. According to a WCCO report, the protesters will form a physical barrier of people to stop runners in their tracks. Protesters told the station that the marathon is a good place to cause peaceful disruption. Some who plan on running the race said on Facebook that they were angered by the planned protest, saying it might lead to violent encounters. The protest is organized for Oct. 4 at a park about half a mile from the race's finish...

Two weeks after disrupting light rail service on the Vikings’ home opener, Black Lives Matter St. Paul plans to “disrupt” another major event – the Twin Cities Marathon. The protest, dubbed #BlackMarathon, is set to begin at 10 a.m. on Oct. 4 at Boyd Park in St. Paul. The marathon starts at 8 a.m. and is one of the ten largest marathons in the country. Black Lives Matter St. Paul announced their plans Friday in a press release posted to their Facebook page, citing what they describe as the “beating” of 15-year-old Tyree Tucker by a Saint Paul police officer...

A 92-year-old cancer survivor has become the oldest woman to finish a marathon. Harriette Thompson of Charlotte, North Carolina, ran the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Diego on Sunday with a 7 hour, 24 minute and 36 second unofficial race time. "I have no idea if I'm going to be able to do it, but I'm going to try," Thompson said at a news conference on Friday prior to her race.

A jury's ruling today to sentence marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death is "justice" and a warning Boston "will not tolerate terrorism," survivors and police said after the verdict. "This is nothing to celebrate. This is justice," said survivor Michael Ward. "He wanted to go to hell and he's going to get there early." The verdict against Tsarnaev, who'll turn 22 in July, was announced by U.S. District Court Judge George A. O'Toole Jr.'s courtroom clerk Paul Lyness. Tsarnaev showed no emotion as the verdict was read. Marathon bombing survivor Adrianne Haslet-Davis, who lost a third of her left leg...

In a first for the embattled publication, one of Rolling Stone’s cover boys was sentenced to death by a federal jury in Boston late Friday afternoon. This is a double whammy this week for the left-wing publication. On top of losing its cover boy, Rolling Stone was also sued this week over a fake rape story published earlier this year.

As prosecutors argued Wednesday that Boston Marathon jihad mass murderer Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should get the death penalty, they released a video of the young jihadi three months after his attack, looking into the security camera in his cell, primping his hair in the reflection, and then flashing the V sign and then giving his middle finger to his jailers.

On April 15, 2013 Gregory was standing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon when two bombs went off in quick succession, leaving her severely injured. After 35 surgeries and an eventual amputation, Gregory has finally come full circle. On Monday, she ran the last 3.5 miles of the Boston Marathon. Gregory told ESPN that she initially planned to run the whole thing, but that her doctor told her last week she’d do too much damage to her body. Last Wednesday, a year to the day from the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, Gregory wrote on her Facebook page about...